Martyrs’ children to get reservation under RTE Act in MP

Children of armed force personnel, who sacrificed their lives for the nation and belong to Madhya Pradesh, will soon get free education as the state government is set to amend the Right to Education Act (RTE).

The RTE Act guarantees every child right to full-elementary education.(Pic for representation)

Children of armed force personnel, who sacrificed their lives for the nation and belong to Madhya Pradesh, will soon get free education as the state government is set to amend the Right to Education Act (RTE).

The move comes on a recommendation by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

“NCPCR, in a general recommendation, suggested states to give reservation to children of martyred soldiers under seats reserved for RTE. We have planned to introduce this in Madhya Pradesh,” said KPS Tomar, RTE nodal officer.

The RTE Act guarantees every child right to full-elementary education and mandates reservation of a minimum of 25% seats to provide free schooling to poor and marginal students in all private and un-aided primary schools.

The present Act specifies that admission in the free seats should be offered to children belonging to two categories - child belonging to disadvantaged group and child belonging to economically weaker section.

After the amendment, children of martyrs will get admission in schools under reserved 25% seats along with students of the two categories.

Allocation of seats would not be a problem, authorities said, adding that the state has 4.2 lakh seats under RTE quota and about 70% were left vacant this year.

Deepti Gaur Mukherjee, the additional chief secretary of school education, said her department has prepared a proposal and the amendment would be made in the RTE Act.

“This amendment would really be helpful for families who have lost their sole earning member,” said Mukherjee, also the commissioner of Rajya Shiksha Kendra.